CFM International + COMAC
CFM International
Cincinnati, Ohio · 1 relationship
Active relationship
Strategic Partnership · 2009–present
COMAC
Shanghai, Shanghai · 2 relationships
Analysis
COMAC selected the LEAP-1C from CFM International—the 50/50 engine venture of GE Aerospace and Safran—as the sole Western propulsion system for the C919 in December 2009. The choice launched a long-term supplier relationship around China's new single-aisle aircraft and made the C919 the third major airframe application in the LEAP family. [1] [2]
A 2011 master contract covered an integrated propulsion system comprising the engine, nacelle and thrust reverser, with CFM working alongside COMAC on integration. The LEAP-1C received simultaneous FAA and EASA type certification in December 2016, and the first C919 completed a 79-minute maiden flight with the engine in May 2017. [3] [4]
CFM reported more than 1,000 LEAP-1C systems ordered or committed in China by the 2017 first flight. The C919 later received its Chinese type certificate in 2022, and CFM's program briefing records that the LEAP-1C entered revenue service on May 28, 2023, when China Eastern operated the C919's first commercial flight between Shanghai and Beijing. [4] [5] [6]
The partnership continues through engine deliveries, technical support and the C919 fleet's operation. It links COMAC's airframe program to a propulsion system jointly produced by an American and a French manufacturer, while CFM's current product material still lists the LEAP-1C integrated propulsion system as the engine for the C919. [2] [7]
References
- 1.COMAC selects CFM LEAP-1C for the C919
- 2.CFM LEAP engine family overview
- 3.CFM and COMAC sign C919 propulsion-system master contract
- 4.LEAP-1C-powered C919 completes maiden flight
- 5.Safran congratulates COMAC on C919 type certification
- 6.CFM 2023 program briefing
- 7.Safran in China's civil-aviation ecosystem
Participants
Continue through either entity
Cincinnati, Ohio · 1 record in this database
CFM International is a 50/50 joint company of GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines, the successor to France’s Snecma in the partnership. [1] The companies formed CFM in 1974, and the venture is headquartered at One Neumann Way in Cincinnati, Ohio. [1] CFM says its parent companies report the joint company’s financial and shareholder information through GE Aerospace and Safran Group. [1]
The venture initially developed the CFM56 family, which CFM describes as the best-selling aircraft-engine product line in commercial-aviation history. [2] CFM’s 50th-anniversary account says the CFM56 established a combination of reliability, fuel efficiency, lower noise and emissions, and cost-of-ownership performance that made it central to single-aisle commercial aviation. [2]
CFM launched the LEAP engine family in 2008 as the successor to the CFM56. [2] The company says LEAP engines deliver 15–20% better fuel efficiency and lower carbon-dioxide emissions than the previous generation, and that the fleet had accumulated more than 60 million engine flight hours and 26 million flight cycles since entering service in August 2016 at the time of CFM’s 2024 anniversary report. [2]
CFM supports both LEAP and CFM56 operators with maintenance, materials, parts distribution, technical service and customer support. [3] Its current website reports more than 1.4 billion flight hours and more than 56,000 engines ordered, and identifies the RISE program as the technology base for a possible next-generation CFM engine, with work on open-fan, compact-core and hybrid-electric architectures and compatibility with sustainable aviation fuel. [3]
Shanghai, Shanghai · 2 records in this database
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd., known as COMAC, was founded in Shanghai on May 11, 2008. COMAC says it is the main vehicle for China’s large passenger-aircraft programs and is responsible for overall planning of trunk-liner and regional-jet programs and the industrialization of civil aircraft. Its stated activities include civil-aircraft research, manufacturing, flight testing, marketing, servicing, leasing, and operations. [1]
COMAC operates through a network of specialist organizations that includes a design and research center, assembly-manufacturing center, customer-service center, flight-test company, supporting center, marketing and sales center, academy, finance companies, and overseas offices. This organization gives COMAC responsibilities across the aircraft life cycle, from design and production through certification support, delivery, and customer service. [1]
Its principal commercial programs are the C909 regional jet and the C919 trunk-liner aircraft. COMAC’s published product information gives the basic C909 a 78–97-seat layout and a range of 2,225–3,700 kilometers, while the basic C919 is listed at 158–192 seats and a range of 4,075–5,555 kilometers. COMAC also presents the C929 as a widebody program with a baseline layout of 282–440 seats. [2]
The C919 received its Chinese type certificate in 2022 and entered commercial service on May 28, 2023, on China Eastern Airlines’ Shanghai–Beijing route. In August 2024, Air China and China Southern received their first C919 aircraft, marking a move toward operation by multiple users; COMAC said nine C919 aircraft had been delivered at that point. [3] [4] [5]
COMAC’s international relevance is visible in the C909’s overseas operating relationships. Two C909 aircraft wet-leased by Chengdu Airlines to Vietjet Air began the Hanoi–Con Dao–Ho Chi Minh City route in April 2025; COMAC reported that TransNusa, Lao Airlines, and Vietjet Air had by then used C909 aircraft on 15 Southeast Asian routes carrying more than 250,000 passengers. Those arrangements connect COMAC’s manufacturing and support system with foreign airline operations without implying that the airlines are COMAC subsidiaries. [6]